The Acceptance Must Be Communicated

An acceptance must be more than a mental decision. It must be communicated. Moreover, one is not obliged to reply to offers made by others. The offerer generally may not express an offer so that silence would appear to be acceptance.

Sometimes, in a continuing relationship, the parties may agree that silence is to be regarded as acceptance. For example, a food market may have a standing order to have a wholesaler ship a certain amount of fresh produce every day unless the retailer breaks the silence with some notice.

In certain transactions, only one of the parties makes a promise. Such transaction is called a unilateral contract. The offerer promises something in return for the performance of a certain act by the offeree. When the act requires substantial time and resources, sometimes the offer cannot be revoked until an offeree who has begun performance has had a reasonable amount of time to complete it.

In most cases, the agreement is a bilateral contract where both parties make promises. For example, a dog owner promises to pay someone $10 an hour to look for a lost dog. The fee is due for the time spent looking for the dog even if it is not found. Bilateral contracts require that the offeree make and communicate the requested promise to the offerer. Until this is done, there is no agreement.

An acceptance may be communicated orally, in person or by telephone. Or it may be communicated in writing and sent by mail or telegraph. The offerer may state which method the offeree is to use.

Vocabulary

standing order постоянный заказ

unilateral/ bilateral/ multilateral (contract) односторонний/ двусторонний/ многосторонний (о контракте)

to be due быть должным